Counting and feeding device for small article

ABSTRACT

A counting and feeding apparatus for small article, characterized in that tablets are fed intermittently from a feeding means ( 2 ) to the outer peripheral surface of a transfer drum ( 1 ) multiple pieces at a time and suckingly held on the outer peripheral surface of the transfer drum ( 1 ), a plurality rows of tablets orderly arranged along the circumferential direction of the drum are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transfer drum ( 1 ) and transferred, one tablet is inputted from each of the rows into a temporary reservation means at a specified transfer position, and these steps are repeated specified times, whereby the tablets can be counted for each row, and the specified quantity of tablets can be reserved in the temporary reservation means and then fed to containers or a packing mechanism section.

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/JP02/00917 which has an Internationalfiling date of Feb. 5, 2002, which designated the United States ofAmerica.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a counting and feeding apparatus forcounting small articles of solid medication such as tablets and capsulesand food products of confectionary, supplements and so forth and feedingthe small articles successively at a predetermined number into acontainer such as a packaging container or a packaging bag or to apackaging mechanism section.

BACKGROUND ART

A counting and feeding apparatus is conventionally known which feedssmall articles of solid medication or food products subdivisionally insmall numbers to packaging containers or packaging bags. For example, acounting, filling and packaging machine which counts and packages apredetermined number of medical tablets is proposed in the officialgazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 63-22301.

The counting and filling apparatus includes, as shown in FIG. 12, foursupply feeders b for individually transporting tablets thrown in fromhoppers a at a predetermined speed, aligning feeders c providedcontiguously with the supply feeders b, and temporary reservation chutesd provided below front end edge portions of the aligning feeders c. Thecounting and filling apparatus counts the number of tablets droppingfrom each of the aligning feeders c into a corresponding one of thetemporary reservation chutes d, takes out tablets accommodated in eachof the hoppers a by every predetermined number and feeds the tablets toa packaging mechanism section.

In particular, the tablets accommodated in each of the hoppers asuccessively drop onto a corresponding one of the supply feeders b andmove at a predetermined speed to a corresponding one of the aligningfeeders c by microvibration of the supply feeders b until they areaccepted by and aligned in a row into an aligning groove (not shown)formed on the aligning feeder c. Thereafter, the tablets move at apredetermined speed in the aligning groove by microvibration of thealigning feeder c and drop one by one into a corresponding one of thetemporary reservation chutes d so that they are reserved in thetemporary reservation chute d. At this time, the tablets successivelydropping from the aligning feeder c onto the temporary reservation chuted are detected and counted by a sensor k formed from light emitting andreceiving elements attached to an upper end portion of the temporaryreservation chute d. When the count number of the sensor k reaches apredetermined count number, the supply feeder b and the aligning feederc are stopped, and a first shutter e provided for the temporaryreservation chute d is opened. Consequently, the predetermined number oftablets reserved in each of the temporary reservation chutes d arecollected into a rotary measure g through a collecting chute f and fedto the packaging mechanism section (not shown), by which subdividedpackaging of them is performed.

If a number of tablets greater than the predetermined number is countedby the sensor k, then a second shutter h is opened in place of the firstshutter e and tablets in the temporary reservation chutes d aredischarged through a discharge chute j, whereafter the supply feeders band the aligning feeders c are rendered operative to start counting oftablets again. Consequently, the predetermined number of tablets arecollected with certainty from each of the temporary reservation chutes dinto the rotary measure g.

In this manner, the counting, filling and packaging machine performscounting of tablets by means of each of four counting mechanism sectionseach including a hopper a, a supply feeder b, an aligning feeder c and atemporary reservation chute d and feeds a predetermined total number oftablets to the packaging mechanism section. Thus, since the countingmechanism sections can individually count predetermined numbers ofdifferent tablets, the counting, filling and packaging machine canpackage a plurality of different kinds of tablets by every predetermineddifferent numbers into a package. Also it is possible for the countingmechanism sections to count tablets of the same type so that thecounting, filling and packaging machine can count a single kind oftablets by a predetermined number.

However, the conventional counting, filling and packaging machine has alow processing capacity from a reason of its mechanism. For example, insuch a case where a single kind of tablet is counted by several tens ormore and filled into a container such as a bottle so that they arepacked into the container, the conventional counting, filling andpackaging machine exhibits a very low processing efficiency. In thismanner, where a high processing capacity is required, the conventionalcounting, filling and packaging machine is not suitable for practicaluse.

In particular, in the counting, filling and packaging machine, when apredetermined number of tablets drop into a temporary reservation chuted, the corresponding supply feeder b and aligning feeder c are merelystopped to stop the feeding of tablets as described above. Therefore,after they are stopped, tablets are likely to drop from the aligningfeeder c, resulting in overfeeding of tablets. Particularly where thefeeding speed is raised, such overfeeding occurs frequently. Therefore,a high processing capacity cannot be achieved. Further, if overfeedingoccurs, then the counting result is reset and the counting is performedagain as described above. This also causes a drop in the processingcapacity.

In this instance, it is a possible idea to increase the number ofcounting mechanism sections each including a hopper a, a supply feederb, an aligning feeder c and a temporary reservation chute d to raise theprocessing capacity. However, this increases the apparatus scalesignificantly, and an increase in the number of counting mechanismsections raises the frequency of occurrence of overfeeding describedabove. Therefore, there is the possibility that the processing capacitymay drop conversely.

Further, in the apparatus described above, since tablets are dropped byvibration from the aligning feeders c, the feeding speed of tablets isnot always constant. Further, also the timing at which a predeterminednumber of tablets are fed into the rotary measure g finally is irregulardepending upon the presence or the number of times of such re-countingas described above. Therefore, much complicated control is required forthe starting/stopping of the supply feeders b and the aligning feedersc, the opening/closing operation of the first shutter e, the movement ofthe rotary measure g and other related movements. Further, since thetiming at which tablets are fed into the rotary measure g is irregular,much complicated control is required to synchronize the packagingmechanism section (not shown) with the feeding timing of tablets andalso the probability of the occurrence of failure in packaging is likelyto rise.

A counting and filling apparatus shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 is availableas an apparatus for counting tablets or capsules by a comparativelygreat number and filling them into a bottle.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 13, the counting and filling apparatusincludes two counting sections a, a, collecting funnels b, b providedindividually below the counting sections a, a, secondary reservationpipes c, c attached to the lower ends of the collecting funnels b, b, acommunication member e to which the secondary reservation pipes c, c areconnected, shutters d, d for openably and closably intercepting thecommunication member e from the secondary reservation pipes c, c, and achute f disposed below the communication member e.

In the counting and filling apparatus, a predetermined number of tabletsor capsules p (hereinafter referred to as “capsules”) counted by each ofthe counting sections a are reserved into the corresponding secondaryreservation pipe c through the corresponding collecting funnel b. Then,the predetermined number of capsules p are fed alternately from the leftand the right secondary reservation pipes into a bottle g through thecommunication member e and the chute f by the opening and closingoperations of the shutters d. It is to be noted that the referencecharacter h in FIG. 13 denotes a conveyor belt for transporting thebottle g.

Each of the counting sections a which compose the counting and fillingapparatus has a configuration such as shown in FIG. 14. In particular,the counting section a shown includes a capsule feeder a1 having a largenumber of (15 in the figure) flow paths a6, a photoelectric sensor a2disposed in the proximity of an end portion of the capsule feeder a1,primary reservation sections a3, a3 disposed on the left and the rightbelow the end portion of the capsule feeder a1, a precise countingreservation section a4 disposed between the primary reservation sectionsa3, a3, and a primary reservation shutter (not shown) disposed foropenably and closably intercepting the collecting funnels b (refer toFIG. 13) from the primary reservation sections a3, a3 and the precisecounting reservation section a4 and driven to open and close each by acylinder a5.

The counting of capsules p by the counting section a is performed in thefollowing manner. In particular, capsules p fed from a hopper (notshown) successively flow along the flow paths a6 of the capsule feedera1 by microvibration and drop from the ends of the flow paths a6 intothe primary reservation sections a3, a3 and the precise countingreservation section a4. Consequently, the capsules p are reserved in theprimary reservation sections a3, a3 and the precise counting reservationsection a4. At this time, the capsules p dropping from the flow paths a6into the reservation sections a3, a3 and a4 are counted by thephotoelectric sensor a2. At a point of time when a predetermined numberof capsules p are reserved in each of the primary reservation sectionsa3, a3 and the precise counting reservation section a4, the primaryreservation shutter (not shown) is opened and the predetermined numbersof capsules p are fed into the secondary reservation pipe c shown inFIG. 13.

In this instance, in the counting sections a, the primary reservationsections a3, a3 perform counting of a major part of the predeterminednumber to be counted while the precise counting reservation section a4performs counting of the remaining small number to perform a numberadjustment to the predetermined number. In particular, the primaryreservation sections a3, a3 perform counting for totaling 14 flow pathsa6 from among the 15 flow paths a6, each for seven rows on the left orright and reserves the counted numbers of the capsules p. Meanwhile, theprecise counting reservation section a4 performs counting only for thecentral one of the 15 flow paths a6 and reserves the counted number ofthe capsules p. For example, in order to count 100 capsules p, theprimary reservation sections a3, a3 first count a number of capsules paround 80 (the number varies every time) and feed the approximately 80capsules p to the secondary reservation pipes c. Then, the remainingnumber of capsules p around 20 is counted accurately by the precisecounting reservation section a4, and the capsules p are fed to thesecondary reservation pipes c so that 100 capsules p may be reservedinto the secondary reservation pipes c. It is to be noted that, alsowhile the precise counting is performed by the precise countingreservation section a4, the primary reservation sections a3, a3 performcounting of approximately 80 capsules p for the next cycle.

The counting and filling apparatus shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 can count agreat number of small articles (capsules) and feed and fill them intobottles or the like comparatively efficiently in this manner. However,since the counting and filling apparatus is configured such that thecounting operation for a predetermined number is performed separately bycounting of a major part and precision counting, although it can count agreat number of small articles efficiently, it exhibits a muchdeteriorated efficiency in counting for a comparatively small number.

Further, a scraper a7 is attached to the capsule feeder a1 in anopposing relationship to the capsule flow paths a6 as shown in FIG. 14so that two or more capsules p may not flow in an overlappingrelationship. However, even if capsules p flow in a row, if capsulesdrop from the flow paths a6 in a state wherein they contact with eachother or in another state wherein they are very close to each other,then the counting operation by the photoelectric sensor a2 sometimescounts two or more capsules as one capsule. Therefore, the reliabilityis not necessarily high.

Furthermore, since interception, transportation, feeding and so forth ofcapsules are controlled by opening and closing operations of theshutter, there is the possibility that a capsule may be broken by themovement of the shutter.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstancesdescribed above, and it is an object of the present invention to providea counting and feeding apparatus for small articles which can count andfeed small articles such as tablets, even when the small articles arepackaged in a unit of several tens of pieces into a bottle or a likecontainer and can package the small articles with certainty acomparatively simple mechanism while eliminating a mixture of packageshaving contents with a wrong number of small articles.

In order to attain the object described above, according to the presentinvention, there is provided a counting and feeding apparatus forcounting small articles such as solid medication or food articles andfeeding the small articles successively by a predetermined number into acontainer such as a packaging container or a packaging bag or to apackaging mechanism section, characterized in that it includes atransport drum for suckingly holding the small articles on an outerperipheral surface thereof and rotating at a predetermined speed totransport the small articles, feeding means for feeding the smallarticles to the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum, andtemporary reservation means for accepting and reserving the smallarticles from the transport drum and feeding the small articles to thecontainer or packaging mechanism section, and that the feeding meansfeeds the small articles intermittently and successively by a pluralnumber onto the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum so thatthe small articles are suckingly held on the outer peripheral surface ofthe transport drum such that a plurality of rows of the small articlesaligned along a circumferential direction of the drum are formed on theouter peripheral surface of the transport drum and then the smallarticles are transported by rotation the transport drum, whereafter oneof the small articles is thrown from each of the rows of the smallarticles into the temporary reservation means at a predeterminedtransport position, the series of operations being repeated to count thesmall articles successively in a unit of the number of rows of the smallarticles until a predetermined number of small articles are reserved bythe temporary reservation means, the reserved small articles being fedinto the container or packaging mechanism section.

In particular, according to the counting and feeding apparatus of thepresent invention, small articles such as solid medication, for exampletablets and capsules or food products are suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum such that a plurality of rowsof the small articles aligned along a circumferential direction of thedrum are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drumand then the small articles are transported by rotation the transportdrum. Thereafter, one of the small articles is thrown from each of therows of the small articles into the temporary reservation means at apredetermined transport position to count the small articles in a unitof the number of rows of the small articles suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum. Then, at a point of time whena predetermined number of small articles is counted, the reserved smallarticles are fed into a container of a suitable type or a packagingmechanism section from the temporary reservation means.

In this manner, with the counting and feeding apparatus of the presentinvention, the small articles suckingly held on the outer peripheralsurface of the transport drum can be counted in a unit of the number ofrows thereof. For example, tablets can be aligned along thecircumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of thetransport drum, and ten such tablet rows can be formed to count thetablets in a unit of ten tablets. Even in a case wherein tablets arecounted in a unit of several tens and then filled and packaged into abottle or a like container, they can be counted and fed veryefficiently. Further, from the transport drum on which the tablets aresuckingly held at equal distances in an aligned state, the tablets arethrown into the temporary reservation means with certainty ten by ten ata fixed speed. Therefore, by feeding the tablets from the temporaryreservation means into a container of a suitable type or the packagingmechanism section at a fixed timing, a predetermined number of tabletscan be fed with certainty without particularly requiring a complicatedcounting operation or control. Further, since the tablets are fed at afixed timing from the temporary reservation means, also the transportingmechanism for containers or the packaging mechanism section may beoperated at a fixed speed in accordance with the feeding timing, and nocomplicated control is required.

As in an embodiment hereinafter described, the counting and feedingapparatus of the present invention may be configured such that a sensorfor detecting a small article thrown into the temporary reservationmeans from each of the rows of the small articles suckingly held on theouter peripheral surface of the transport drum is disposed between thetransport drum and the temporary reservation means to inspect adefective count (insufficient feeding).

In this instance, if a number of small articles corresponding to thenumber of rows of the small articles are not detected and insufficientfeeding is detected, then the insufficient small article set may becollected through a separate path from the temporary reservation meanswithout feeding the same from the temporary reservation means to acontainer or a packaging mechanism section. Preferably, however, alsothis insufficient small article set is fed in a normal manner to acontainer or a packaging mechanism section and filled or packed into thecontainer, whereafter it is collected separately from normal products.In particular, where an insufficient product is collected after fillingor packaging in this manner, the feeding timing from the temporaryreservation means is normally fixed, and also the transporting mechanismfor containers or the packaging mechanism section may be operated at afixed speed. Thus, appearance of a product which contains aninsufficient number of small articles can be prevented with certaintywithout requiring complicated control.

Furthermore, in the counting and feeding apparatus of the presentinvention, since the small articles are suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum and transported in a stableposture, it is possible to provide one or both of image pickup means forpicking up an image of the small articles suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum and a thickness sensor anddetect an abnormal appearance of any of the small articles or thethickness of the small articles from the image or thickness data.Consequently, mixture of an article of a different type or mixture of adefective article such as a cracked, broken or some other deformedarticle or an article to which a foreign article sticks can beprevented. It is to be noted that exclusion of such defective articlesmay be performed in a similar manner to the removal of products whichcontain an insufficient number of small articles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings,which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a counting and feeding apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a vibration feeder of the counting andfeeding apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged sectional view showing the vibrationfeeder;

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged sectional view showing a communicationmember and a transport drum of the counting and feeding apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view showing the transport drum of thecounting and feeding apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a vertical, sectional view showing the drum transport drum;

FIG. 7 is a partial enlarged sectional view showing the transport drum;

FIG. 8 is a partial enlarged perspective view showing tablets held bythe transport drum;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a temporary reservation machine ofthe counting and feeding apparatus, and FIG. 9(A) is a transversesectional view and FIG. 9(B) is a vertical sectional view;

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a bottle transport mechanismsection of the counting apparatus;

FIG. 11 is a partial schematic enlarged sectional view showing a tabletfeeding apparatus to a PTP packaging section configured using componentsof the counting and feeding apparatus from a tablet feeding section 2 toa transport drum 1;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing a conventional counting apparatus;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing another conventional countingapparatus; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing a counting section whichcomposes the counting apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the following, the present invention is described more particularlywith reference to an embodiment of a counting and feeding apparatus ofthe present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a counting and feeding apparatus according to an embodimentof the present invention. The counting and feeding apparatus countstablets for medical use successively by a predetermined number and feedsand fills them into a plastic bottle.

As shown in FIG. 1, the counting and feeding apparatus includes atransport drum 1 for holding and transporting tablets on an outerperipheral surface thereof, a tablet feeding section 2 including a fixedamount feeder 21 for feeding tablets at random by a predetermined numberand an aligning feeder 22 for aligning the tablets and feeding tabletsat a predetermined speed to the transport drum 1, and a temporaryreservoir 3 for accepting tablets from the transport drum 1 andtemporarily reserving them.

The fixed amount feeder 21 which composes the tablet feeding section 2includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a box-shaped case 212 for acceptingtablets thrown in from a hopper h and a fixed amount roller 213 disposedfor rotation in the case 212. The fixed amount roller 213 has axiallyextending groove-like recesses 214 formed at a predetermined pitch in acircumferential direction on an outer peripheral surface thereof suchthat tablets thrown into the case 212 from the hopper h are accommodatedinto the recesses 214 of the fixed amount roller 213. Thus, when thefixed amount roller 213 rotates at a predetermined speed, asubstantially predetermined number of tablets conforming to the volumeof the recesses 214 are fed at fixed distances to the aligning feeder 22through a funnel-shaped chute 215 provided at a lower end portion of thecase 212.

The aligning feeder 22 which composes the tablet feeding section 2includes a vibration feeder 23 which in turn includes a circularvibration disk 231 and a vibrator 232 for applying microvibration to thevibration disk 231.

The vibration disk 231 which composes the vibration feeder 23 has anouter circumferential wall 231 a provided uprightly along an outercircumferential edge thereof as shown in FIG. 2. Further, a fixing plate231 b in the form of a thick disk is attached to a central portion ofthe vibration disk 231 and secures the vibration disk 231 to thevibrator 232. A tablet transport section 233 is formed between thefixing plate 231 b and the outer circumferential wall 231 a on thevibration disk 231. An end portion of the chute 215 of the tabletfeeding section 2 is disposed above the tablet transport section 233.

Eight aligning grooves 234 are provided in a juxtaposed relationshipwith each other along a circumferential direction at part of the tablettransport section 233 as shown in FIG. 2. The aligning grooves 234 areformed with different lengths with the first ends thereof beingregistered along a straight line in a diametrical direction while thesecond ends thereof terminate at different positions relative to eachother. The first ends of the aligning grooves 234 registered with eachother are open to the upper face of the vibration disk 231. Meanwhile,feed holes 235 are formed at the second or last ends (the other ends) ofthe aligning grooves 234 such that tablets t can pass therethrough in avertical direction (in a direction in which a diametrical direction ofthe tablets t coincides with the upward and downward direction).Further, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the aligning grooves 234 has across section of a right-angled triangular shape and has a bottom faceinclined obliquely downwardly toward the outer circumference side of thevibration disk 231.

As shown in FIG. 3, a tablet chute 236 in the form of a rectangularblock is secured to a location on a lower face of the vibration disk 231corresponding to the location of the aligning grooves 234. Tabletfeeding paths 237 are provided in the tablet chute 236 such that theywith the feed holes 235 provided at the terminal ends of the aligninggrooves 234 and are open to communicate a lower portion of a side faceof the tablet chute 236.

The vibration disk 231 is mounted on the vibrator 232 as shown in FIG. 1such that it microvibrates by vibration generated by the vibrator 232 insuch a manner that it is revolved in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2.Consequently, tablets t fed from the chute 215 of the tablet feedingsection 2 onto the tablet transport section 233 are moved to the outerside while being revolved in the clockwise direction on the vibrationdisk 231.

Each of the tablet feeding paths 237 provided in the tablet chute 236 ofthe vibration feeder 23 is connected at an open end thereof to acommunication member 24 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. As shown in FIGS. 3and 4, the communication member 24 is disposed in a downwardly inclinedstate at a predetermined angle from one end to the other end thereofsuch that the one end portion thereof is in a non-fixed state in theproximity of the tablet chute 236 while the other end thereof is in theproximity of the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 1hereinafter described. The communication member 24 is mounted on thevibrator 242 as shown in FIG. 1 and disposed in such a manner asdescribed above and is caused to microvibrate in the forward andbackward directions (lengthwise directions) by the vibrator 242.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the communication member 24 has communicationpaths 241 provided thereon corresponding to the tablet feeding paths 237provided in the tablet chute 236. The other end portions of thecommunication paths 241 are positioned in the proximity of the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum 1 and partially cut away toopen at an upper wall portion thereof as shown in FIG. 4. An outercircumferential portion of a feed roller 25 is partially inserted in thecommunication paths 241 through the open portion.

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of projections 251 formed from aresilient material such as silicon rubber is formed on an outerperipheral surface of the feed roller 25 in a corresponding relationshipto the communication paths 241. The projections 251 are inserted in thecommunication paths 241 of the communication member 24. The projections251 are provided in an equidistantly spaced relationship from each otheralong a circumferential direction of the feed roller 25 and are alignedin a row along the circumferential direction and a diametrical directionof the feed roller 25.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7, the transport drum 1 includes an inner tube11 and an outer tube 12 disposed for rotation on an outer side of theinner tube 11. The outer tube 12 continuously rotates at a predeterminedspeed along an outer circumference of the inner tube 11 in a clockwisedirection in FIG. 5 (in the direction indicated by an arrow mark in FIG.5).

The inner tube 11 has a through-groove 111 formed along acircumferential direction at a substantially half circumference portionthereof which coincides substantially with a transport region of thetablets t. Meanwhile, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the outer tube 12 has aplurality of (eight in the figures) suction grooves 121 formed in acircumferential direction on an outer peripheral surface thereof.Further, the outer tube 12 has a predetermined number of suction holes122 formed in a mutually juxtaposed and equidistantly spacedrelationship from each other in the circumferential direction in each ofthe suction grooves 121 thereof. Furthermore, a rubber ring (annularresilient member) 123 having a T-shaped cross section is mounted betweeneach adjacent ones of the suction holes 122 along the opposing sideedges of each adjacent ones of the suction grooves 121.

The inside of the inner tube 11 is normally held in a decompressed stateby a sucking action. Thus, in the transport region of the tablets t, thesucking action acts in the insides of the suction grooves 121 from thesuction holes 122 of the outer tube 12 through the through-groove 111 tosuckingly hold the tablets t on the suction grooves 121 in the outerperipheral surface of the outer tube 12 such that the tablets t extendbetween the rubber rings 123 during transportation of the tablets t.Compressed air jetting nozzles 13 are disposed at a lowermost portion inthe inside of the inner tube 11 as shown in FIG. 5. The compressed airjetting nozzles 13 jet compressed air to eject the tablets t from theouter circumference of the transport drum 1 so that they are thrown intothe temporary reservoir 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the counting and feeding apparatus of the presentembodiment includes an image pickup apparatus 14 and a thickness sensor14 b disposed in the proximity of the circumferential face of thetransport drum 1. The image pickup apparatus 14 picks up an image oftablets t held and transported by the outer peripheral surface of thetransport drum 1 and processes the image so that it can detect anabnormal appearance of any of the tablets t. The thickness sensor 14 bcan measure the thickness of the tablets t. Consequently, mixture of anarticle of a different type, crack, chip or some other deformation oradhesion of a foreign article can be detected.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the temporary reservoir 3 includes a body 31 inthe form of a rectangular block and a rotary member 32 disposed in thebody 31. The body 31 has a cylindrical hollow therein and has an openingprovided at each of an upper face and a lower face thereof andcommunicating with the hollow. A gate member 33 is mounted on the upperface of the body 31. The gate member 33 has tablet paths 331 formedtherein and partitioned in accordance with the number of the rows of thetablets t formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum1. The tablet paths 331 are communicated with the upper face opening ofthe body 31. A sensor 332 composed of a light emitting element and alight receiving element in pair is mounted between each adjacent ones ofthe partitions so that it detects a tablet t which passes between thepartitions. Meanwhile, a funnel-shaped feeding chute 34 is mounted onthe lower face of the body 31 such that the tablets t discharged fromthe lower face opening of the body 31 are thrown into a plastic bottle kdisposed below the body 31 through the feeding chute 34.

The rotary member 32 which composes the temporary reservoir 3 includesfour partition blades 321 provided at positions thereof displaced by 90degrees from each other as shown in FIG. 9(A). Consequently, the insideof the hollow of the body 31 is divided into four tablet accommodatingsections 322 by the partition blades 321. The rotary member 32 isintermittently rotated by 90 degrees so that the four tabletaccommodating sections 322 are rotated 90 degrees in the clockwisedirection in FIG. 9(A).

A bottle transporting mechanism section for transporting bottles k intowhich tablets t should be filled is provided below the temporaryreservoir 3.

Referring to FIG. 10, the bottle transporting mechanism section includestwo conveyor belts including a transport conveyor belt 41 a and adefective article transport conveyor belt 41 b, a bottle feeding table42, and a bottle collection table 43.

The transport conveyor belt 41 a and the defective article transportconveyor belt 41 b are provided in a closely juxtaposed relationshipwith each other and are circulated at a predetermined speed in the samedirection (in the rightward direction in FIG. 10). Outer walls 411, 411are disposed on the outer side portions of the conveyor belts 41 a and41 b, and a partition wall 412 is disposed between the conveyor belts 41a and 41 b. A defective article removing window 413 is formed at aportion of the partition wall 412 such that it communicates the conveyorbelts 41 a and 41 b with each other. A defective article dischargingdoor 414 is attached to the defective article removing window 413 suchthat it opens or closes the defective article removing window 413 whenit is pivoted to the transport conveyor belt 41 a side.

The bottle feeding table 42 is disposed in the proximity of thetransport conveyor belt 41 a at an upstream portion of the transportconveyor belt 41 a and rotates at a predetermined speed in the clockwisedirection in FIG. 10. A peripheral wall 421 is provided on an outerperiphery of the bottle feeding table 42. The peripheral wall 421 ispartly open to the transport conveyor belt 41 a and has an end portionextending to a position above the transport conveyor belt 41 a.

The bottle collection table 43 is provided in the proximity of thetransport conveyor belt 41 a at a downstream portion of the transportconveyor belt 41 a and rotates at a predetermined speed in the clockwisedirection in FIG. 10 similarly to the bottle feeding table 42. Aperipheral wall 431 is provided on an outer periphery of the bottlecollection table 43. The peripheral wall 431 is partly open to thetransport conveyor belt 41 a and has an end portion extending to aposition above the transport conveyor belt 41 a.

The counting and feeding apparatus counts tablets t thrown in the hopperh successively by a predetermined number and feeds the predeterminednumber of tablets t into the plastic bottle k. Now, the operation of thecounting and feeding apparatus is described.

Tablets t thrown in the hopper h (refer to FIG. 1) are successivelythrown into the case 212 of the fixed amount feeder 21. Then, thetablets t are thrown at a predetermined feeding speed into the tablettransport section 233 on the vibration disk 231 of the aligning feeder22 from the chute 215 successively by a number corresponding to thecapacity of the recesses 214 formed on the fixed amount roller 213 bythe fixed amount roller 213 which rotates in the case 212.

The tablets t thrown in the tablet transport section 233 on thevibration disk 231 are revolved in the clockwise direction to movetoward the outer side as shown in FIG. 2 by vibration of the vibrationdisk 231. Then, the tablets t advance into the aligning grooves 234provided at part of the outer circumferential portion of the vibrationdisk 231 so that they are aligned into 8 rows along the circumferentialdirection of the vibration disk 231. Thereafter, the tablets t drop fromthe feeding holes 235 provided at the terminal ends of the aligninggrooves 234 into the tablet feeding paths 237 of the tablet chute 236and advance into the communication paths 241 of the communication member24 through the tablet feeding paths 237.

In particular, the vibration disk 231 microvibrates in such a mannerthat it revolves by a small amount as described hereinabove, and thetablets t are revolved to move slowly to the outer side by the vibrationuntil they advance into the aligning grooves 234. Then, as shown in FIG.3, the tablets t having advanced into the aligning grooves 234 move in aposture obliquely inclined by the inclination of the bottom walls of thealigning grooves 234 to the terminal ends of the aligning grooves 234 bythe vibration of the vibration disk 231. Then, the tablets t drop fromthe feeding holes 235 into the tablet feeding paths 237 of the tabletchute 236 and advance into the communication paths 241 of thecommunication member 24 through the tablet feeding paths 237.

The tablets t having advanced into the communication paths 241 of thecommunication member 24 move to the tip end side of the communicationmember 24 by the inclination of the communication member 24 and thevibration by the vibrator 242 until they contact with and are stoppedonce by the projections 251 of the feed roller 25 as shown in FIG. 4.Then, by the feed roller 25 rotating at a fixed speed, the tablets t arefed at fixed distances from the end of the communication member 24 ontothe suction grooves 121 provided on the outer peripheral surface of thetransport drum 1. In this instance, while the eight communication paths241 are provided on the communication member 24 in a correspondingrelationship to the feeding holes 235 provided on the vibration disk 231as shown in FIG. 2, the tablets t are fed at a time from thecommunication paths 241 onto the suction grooves 121 on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum 1. Further, the speed ofrotation of the transport drum 1 is adjusted in accordance with thefeeding timing of the tablets t by the rotation of the feed roller 25.The tablets t fed by the rotation of the feed roller 25 are placed ontothe suction holes 122 of the outer tube 12 which composes the transportdrum 1.

The tablets t fed to the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum1 are suckingly held on the suction grooves 121 formed on the outer tube12 of the transport drum 1 each in a state extending between adjacentones of the rubber rings 123 by a sucking action through the suctionholes 122. In this state, the tablets t are transported by rotation ofthe outer tube 12 as shown in FIG. 5. In this instance, the tablets ttransported in a state suckingly held on the transport drum 1 are fed atthe same timing onto the suction grooves 121 of the transport drum 1.Consequently, the tablets t form eight tablet rows aligned at equaldistances along the circumferential direction of the transport drum 1 asshown in FIG. 8, and the tablets t of the rows are aligned in a rowalong the axial direction of the transport drum 1.

An image of the tablets t suckingly held and transported by the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum 1 in a state aligned in thecircumferential direction and the axial direction is picked up by theimage pickup apparatus 14 (refer to FIG. 1) during the transportation ofthe tablets t. The image is fetched for each row along the axialdirection of the transport drum 1, and an appearance of the each tablett is inspected in terms of the shape, color and so forth from the image.Further, the thickness of the tablets t is measured by the thicknesssensor 14 b. Consequently, mixture of a tablet of a different type ormixture of a defective tablet such as a cracked or broken tablet or atablet to which a foreign article sticks is detected.

After the appearance and thickness inspections, the tablets t arefurther transported by rotation of the transport drum 1. Then, as shownin FIG. 5, the tablets t are discharged from the outer peripheralsurface of the transport drum 1 by compressed air jetted from thecompressed air jetting nozzles 13 disposed in the inner tube 11 at thelowermost portion of the transport drum 1 and are thrown into thetemporary reservoir 3. At this time, the eight tablets t held inalignment with the axial direction of the transport drum 1 are thrown atthe same time into the temporary reservoir 3. In other words, from thetablet rows held on the eight suction grooves of the transport drum 1,the tablets t are thrown at the same time into the temporary reservoir 3from each of the tablet rows. Consequently, eight tablets are throwninto the temporary reservoir 3 by one tablet throw-in operation.

The eight tablets t thrown in the temporary reservoir 3 pass through thetablet paths 331 of the gate member 33 for the individual rows and arethrown into the tablet accommodating sections 322 partitioned by thepartition blades 321 of the rotary member 32 as shown in FIG. 9(A). Atthis time, when each of the tablets t passes one of the tablet paths331, the tablet t is detected by the sensor 332 mounted on the tabletpath 331 so that it is confirmed that all of the eight tablets t arethrown into the tablet accommodating sections 322.

Then, the operation described is repeated by a predetermined number oftimes set in advance so that the tablets t are counted by thepredetermined number of times for each number of rows of the tablets theld on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 1. Forexample, if it is set to repeat the operation described above by tentimes, then eight tablets t are successively thrown into the tabletaccommodating sections 322 of the temporary reservoir 3 by ten times.Consequently, totaling 8×10 tablets t, that is, 80 tablets t, arecounted.

After the counting of the predetermined number of tablets t isperformed, that is, after the operation described above is repeated bythe predetermined number of times, the rotary member 32 of the temporaryreservoir 3 is rotated by 90 degrees. Then, in this state, a similaroperation to that described above is repeated, and eight tablets t aresuccessively thrown into a next one of the tablet accommodating sections322 until the predetermined number of tablets t is counted.

Then, the predetermined number of tablets t reserved in the tabletaccommodating section 322 of the temporary reservoir 3 are thrown intothe plastic bottle k disposed below the feeding chute 34 from an outletopening provided in the lower wall of the temporary reservoir 3 throughthe feeding chute 34 when the temporary reservoir 3 is rotated by 180degrees from the counting position as shown in FIG. 9(A).

Here, empty plastic bottles k are successively fed to a position justbelow the feeding chute 34 by the bottle transporting mechanism sectiondescribed hereinabove. In particular, as shown in FIG. 10, empty bottlesk are successively fed from the rotating bottle feeding table 42 ontothe transport conveyor belt 41 a and then successively transported bythe transport conveyor belt 41 a. Then, each of the bottles k is stoppedonce by a stopper not shown at a position just below the feeding chute34 (a tablet throw-in position in FIG. 10). Then, after thepredetermined number of tablets t are thrown into the bottle k from thetemporary reservoir 3, the stopped state by the stopper is canceledonce. Consequently, the plastic bottle k filled with the tablets t isfurther transported by the transport conveyor belt 41 a until it movesto the bottle collection table 43 which rotates at a predeterminedspeed. Meanwhile, a next empty bottle k is stopped at the position justbelow the feeding chute 34 (tablet throw-in position in FIG. 10) by thestopper. This operation is repeated in synchronism with the rotatingmovement of the rotary member 32 of the temporary reservoir 3 so thattablets t are successively fed into the bottles k.

In the present apparatus, if a tablet-filled bottle which includes atablet of a different type or a defective tablet or contains a wrongnumber of tablets (insufficient number of tablets) is produced, thenthis is collected separately. In particular, if a tablet of an abnormalappearance is detected by the inspection by the image pickup apparatusor passage of a tablet t is not detected even once by any of the sensors332 provided on the gate member 33 of the temporary reservoir 3, thenthere is the possibility that the pertaining tablet set accommodated inthe tablet accommodating section 322 may include a tablet of a differenttype, a defective tablet suffering from a crack or break or contain aninsufficient number of tablets. Therefore, when a defective bottle k′into which the tablet set has been thrown is transported, the defectivearticle discharging door 414 is temporarily opened as indicated by analternate long and short dash line in FIG. 10. Consequently, thedefective bottle k′ is introduced to the defective article transportconveyor belt 41 b past the defective article discharging door 414 andtransported along a different path by the defective article transportconveyor belt 41 b until it is collected separately.

In this manner, according to the inventive counting and feedingapparatus of the present embodiment, small articles such as tablets orcapsules are suckingly held on the outer peripheral surface of thetransport drum such that a plurality of rows of the small articlesaligned along a circumferential direction of the transport drum areformed on the outer peripheral surface of the transport drum and thenthe small articles are transported by rotation the transport drum.Thereafter, one of the small articles is thrown from each of the rows ofthe small articles into the temporary reservation means at apredetermined transport position to count the small articles in a unitof the number of rows of the small articles suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum. Then, at a point of time whenthe predetermined number of small articles is counted, the smallarticles are fed into a container of a suitable type or a packagingmechanism section from the temporary reservation means.

With the counting and feeding apparatus of the present embodiment,tablets t suckingly held on the outer peripheral surface of thetransport drum 1 can be counted in a unit of the number of rows thereof.In particular, in the present embodiment, the tablets t can be alignedalong the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface ofthe transport drum 1, and eight such tablet rows can be formed to countthe tablets t in a unit of eight tablets. For example, even in a casewherein up to 80 tablets t are counted and then filled and packaged intoa plastic bottle k, they can be counted and fed efficiently. Further,from the transport drum 1 on which the tablets t are suckingly held atequal distances in an aligned state, the tablets are thrown into thetemporary reservoir 3 with certainty eight by eight at a fixed speed.Therefore, by a comparatively simple operation only of feeding thetablets t from the temporary reservoir 3 into a bottle k at a fixedtiming, a predetermined number of tablets can be fed with certaintywithout particularly requiring a complicated counting operation orcontrol. Further, since a predetermined number of tablets t are fed at afixed timing from the temporary reservoir 3, also the transportingmechanism for bottles k may be operated at a fixed speed in accordancewith the feeding timing, and no complicated control is required.

Further, in the counting and feeding apparatus of the presentembodiment, a sensor for detecting a tablet t to be thrown into thetemporary reservoir 3 from each row of the tablets t suckingly held onthe outer peripheral surface of the transport drum 1 is disposed betweenthe transport drum 1 and the temporary reservation means to inspect adefective count (insufficient feeding). In this instance, even when anumber of tablets t corresponding to the number of rows of the tablets tare not detected and insufficient feeding is detected, also thisinsufficient tablet set is fed in a normal manner to a plastic bottle kand filled or packed into the bottle k, whereafter it is collectedseparately from normal products. Therefore, also when an insufficientcount is detected, the feeding timing from the temporary reservoir 3 isnormally fixed, and also the bottle transporting mechanism may beoperated at a fixed speed. Thus, appearance of a product containing aninsufficient number of tablets can be prevented with certainty withoutrequiring complicated control.

Furthermore, in the counting and feeding apparatus of the presentembodiment, since the tablets t are suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum 1 and transported in a stableposture, an image of the tablets t suckingly held on the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum 1 can be picked up by the imagepickup apparatus. Thus, an abnormal appearance of a tablet t can bedetected from the thus picked up image. Further, the thickness of thetablets t can be measured. Consequently, mixture of a tablet of adifferent type or mixture of a defective tablet such as a cracked,broken or some other deformed tablet or a tablet to which a foreignarticle sticks can be prevented.

It is to be noted that the counting and feeding apparatus of the presentinvention is not limited to the embodiment described above but can bemodified in various manners. For example, while the transport drum 1 inthe embodiment described above has eight suction grooves to form eighttablet rows, the number of tablet rows to be formed on the transportdrum 1 may otherwise be less than 8 or 9 or more. For example, tentablet rows may be formed so that the tablets may be counted in a unitof ten tablets. Further, if it is intended to change the count value,then the change can be performed in a unit of the number of rows of thetransport drum 1 (in the example described above, in a unit of eightrows) by adjusting the number of times by which tablets are thrown intothe temporary reservoir 3. However, it is otherwise possible to replacethe transport drum 1 with another transport drum which forms a differentnumber of rows. Also it is possible to block a number of tablet feedingpaths to the transport drum 1 equal to an arbitrary number of rows bysuitable means to adjust the number of rows of tablets t to be formed onthe transport drum 1.

Further, the configuration of the transport drum 1, tablet feedingsection 2, temporary reservoir 3 and so forth can be modified suitably.For example, the transport drum 1 described above is not limited to thatof the type wherein the tablets t are suckingly held on the suctiongrooves 121, but may be of a different type wherein the tablets t areheld in holding pockets formed in an aligned relationship on an outerperipheral surface of the drum. Thus, any transport drum may be usedonly if the drum holds tablets on an outer circumference thereof andtransports the tables. Further, while the embodiment described above isformed as an apparatus which counts and feeds tablets into a plasticbottle k, it may otherwise be formed as an apparatus which, for example,feeds counted tablets t to a packaging mechanism section (packagingapparatus) which performs subdivided packaging such as bagging ofcounted tablets t. Also the object of counting and feeding is notlimited to tablets described above, but the counting and feedingapparatus may otherwise be configured as an apparatus for counting andfeeding some other solid medication such as capsules, food products suchas supplement or confectionary or other small articles.

Furthermore, the components of the counting and feeding apparatus of theembodiment described above from the tablet feeding section 2 to thetransport drum 1 can be suitably used as a feeding apparatus for feedingsmall articles such as tablets and capsules into pockets of a plasticsheet for PTP packaging in order to PTP package the small articles.

In particular, a sheet transporting section for transporting a plasticsheet x for PTP packaging is provided below the transport drum 1 inplace of the temporary reservoir 3 as shown in FIG. 11. The sheettransporting section transports the plastic sheet x in a state whereinthe plastic sheet x is positioned in the proximity of the outerperipheral surface of the transport drum 1. Consequently, a feedingapparatus can be configured which feeds tablets t suckingly held on theouter peripheral surface of the transport drum 1 directly intoaccommodation recesses (pockets) y of the plastic sheet x.

In this instance, since the transport drum 1 suckingly holds the tabletst in a state wherein they project from the outer peripheral surface ofthe drum, a tablet t to be thrown into each accommodating recess y ofthe plastic sheet x from the transport drum 1 is placed into a statewherein it is inserted in the accommodating recess y while it remains inthe state suckingly held on the outer peripheral surface of thetransport drum 1 as shown in FIG. 11. Then, in this state, the tablet tis transferred into the accommodating recess y by compressed air fromthe nozzle 13. Therefore, the tablet t is filled in a stable state intothe accommodating recess y of the plastic sheet x. Consequently, it ispossible to fill tablets with certainty into the accommodating recessesy of the plastic sheet x and perform PTP packaging of them very stably.

As described above, according to the counting and feeding apparatus forsmall articles of the present invention, even where small articles suchas tablets are packaged in a unit of several tens articles into a bottleor a like container, they can be counted and fed very efficiently andaccurately. Besides, the small articles can be packaged with certaintyusing a comparatively simple mechanism, and mixture of a packagecontaining a wrong number of small articles can be prevented to theutmost.

1. A counting and feeding apparatus for counting small articles such assolid medication or food articles and feeding the small articlessuccessively by a predetermined number into a container such as apackaging container or a packaging bag or to a packaging mechanismsection, characterized in that it comprises: a transport drum forholding with a suction, the small articles on an outer peripheralsurface thereof and rotating at a predetermined speed to transport thesmall articles; feeding means for feeding the small articles to theouter peripheral surface of said transport drum, said feeding meansincluding a vibration feeder for feeding the small articles at random; acommunication member having a plurality of communication paths formedthereon, said communication member being connected at a first endthereof to said vibration feeder while a second end of saidcommunication member is positioned in the proximity of the outerperipheral surface of said transport drum, said communication memberbeing disposed in a downwardly inclined relationship from the first endto the second end thereof; and a feed roller disposed in the proximityof an upper face of the second end of said communication member androtating at a predetermined speed, said vibration feeder successivelyfeeding the small articles into the communication paths of saidcommunication member and moving the small articles from the first end tothe second end of said communication member in said communication paths,and said feed roller feeding the small articles at a predetermined speedfrom said communication paths onto the surface of said transport drum;and temporary reservation means for accepting and reserving the smallarticles from said transport drum and feeding the small articles to thecontainer or packaging mechanism section, said feeding means feeding thesmall articles intermittently and successively in a plural number ontothe outer peripheral surface of said transport drum so that the smallarticles are held by suction to the outer peripheral surface of saidtransport drum such that a plurality of rows of the small articlesaligned along a circumferential direction of said drum are formed on theouter peripheral surface of said transport drum and then the smallarticles are transported by rotation of said transport drum, whereafterone of the small articles is thrown from each of the rows of the smallarticles into said temporary reservation means at a predeterminedtransport position, the series of operations being repeated to count thesmall articles successively in a unit of the number of rows of the smallarticles until a predetermined number of small articles are reserved bysaid temporary reservation means, the reserved small articles being fedinto the container or packaging mechanism section.
 2. The counting andfeeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transport drum hasa plurality of suction grooves formed on the outer peripheral surfacethereof along the circumferential direction which holds and thentransports the small articles on said suction grooves.
 3. The countingand feeding apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said temporaryreservation means has a cylindrical hollow having an upper opening and alower opening and includes a rotatable member having a plurality ofpartition blades and disposed in said hollow such that said partitionblades partition said hollow into a plurality of accommodation sectionsfor accepting and reserving the small articles from said upper openingand allowing the reserved articles to be discharged from said loweropening by rotation of said rotatable member.
 4. The counting andfeeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vibration feederincludes a vibration disk which microvibrates in such a manner so as torevolve in a small amount and having a plurality of feed holes formed inan outer circumferential portion thereof, and moving the small articlesfed to a central portion of said vibration disk toward the outerperipheral portion of said disk while revolving the small articles bythe microvibration so that the small articles are fed from said feedholes into said communication paths of said communication member.
 5. Acounting and feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sensorfor detecting a small articles thrown into said temporary reservationmeans from each of the rows of the small articles held by suction to theouter peripheral surface of said transport drum is disposed between saidtransport drum and said temporary reservation means.
 6. A counting andfeeding apparatus for small articles according to claim 1, which furthercomprises one or both of image pickup means and a thickness sensor, saidimage pickup means picking up an image of the small articles held bysuction to the outer peripheral surface of said transport drum to detectan abnormal appearance of any of the small articles.